NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE
In Association with the Libertarian International

Release Date: Thursday 12th June 2008
Release Time: Immediate

David Davis MP: Libertarian Alliance Gives "Unconditional Support"

The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and civil liberties policy institute, today gives its unconditional support to David Davis, The Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party, who has resigned to fight a by-election on the issue of the 42-day detention law. Though much more radical than he is on issues of civil liberty, the Libertarian Alliance hails Mr Davis as a brave and decent man.

Note: On the 11th June 2008, the House of Commons approved a clause in the Counter-Terrorism Bill to allow detention without charge for up to 42 days, or six weeks. 36 Labour MPs voted against the Government. The measure passed only because of lavish bribery to other potential rebels and to the Irish Members. The following day, David Davis announced he would resign his seat and fight the resulting by-election on the single issue of the erosion of civil liberties during the past decade of Labour rule. This would provide some British people at least with a vote on the increasingly terrible actions of this Government.

Libertarian Alliance Director, Dr Sean Gabb, says:

"The Libertarian Alliance is a non-party organisation. That is, we find much to oppose in all the main political parties. On this occasion, however, we give our unconditional support to Mr Davis as an individual candidate in his fight for our liberties.

"We have been repeatedly told that suspects will only be detained for six weeks without trial in the gravest cases affecting national security. This is a lie. We were promised that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 would only be used in cases of national security. Instead, it is used by just about every local authority in the country to spy on ordinary people. The effect - and almost certainly the purpose - of this law will be to create a new weapon of administrative detention. It may be used against the occasional terrorist suspect. Much more often, though, dissidents and other 'trouble-makers' will be told to shut up or face arrest on suspicion of terrorist offences. They will be held without charge for six weeks, then released without charge. In the meantime, they will have lost their jobs and reputations; their lives will be in ruins. All this - and without the shadow of due process.

"Anyone who believes such wickedness is beyond the imagination of our rulers is either ignorant of human nature in general or blind to what this Labour Government has done since 1997.

"In deciding to fight a by-election on this issue, and the general issue of the Labour police state, David Davis has shown himself to be a brave and decent man. His fight is our fight. Regardless of normal party affiliation, it is the fight of everyone who believes in liberal democracy.

"We note that some people are already crying up Mr Davis as a 'radical libertarian', - as if these words falsified what he was saying. We find this bizarre. All he is demanding in essence is a return to the legal situation of the early 1990s. It is a sign of how illiberal the political consensus has become in this country that he could possibly be called 'extreme'.

"We are the extremists on the civil liberties spectrum. We agree with Mr Davis in calling for repeal of all 'hate crime' censorship laws and the restoration of due process. But we go much further. We also call for repeal the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which turns every professional adviser in the country into a police spy. We call for an end to the 'war on drugs', which is fuelling organised crime. We call for the repeal repeal of the Firearms Acts, which leave ordinary people defenceless against violent criminals. we call for repeal of the race relations laws, which do more than anything else to restrict freedom of speech and association.

"Where civil liberties are concerned, Mr Davis is a moderate. We say this not to criticise him, but to expose the fatuity of his critics.

"Again, we wish him well. We call on the Liberal Democrat and UK Independence Parties not to field candidates against him in the by-election, and for the contest to be one between light and darkness - a contest in which whatever Labour candidate dares stand in defence of his Government's record will lose his deposit and pass into the oblivion that Gordon Brown himself deserves."

The Libertarian Alliance believes:

That no one should be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law:

That due process should include no detention without charge after 48 hours, together with all other Common Law protections abolished or eroded since around 1988

Dr Sean Gabb is the Director of the Libertarian Alliance. He is the author of ten novels and ten other books, plus about a million words of journalism. He can be contacted for further comment on 07956 472 199 or by email at sean@libertarian.co.uk

His latest novel, The Break, has been nominated for the 2015 Prometheus Award.

Or another of his books, Smoking, Class and the Legitimation of Power, explains how the current "war" on smoking has nothing to do with making individuals healthy, but everything to do with enhancing the power of a totalitarian ruling class, and enriching its relevant client groups.

The Libertarian Alliance is Britain's most radical free market and civil liberties policy institute. It has published over 800 articles, pamphlets and books in support of freedom and against statism in all its forms. These are freely available at http://www.libertarian.co.uk